Two organizations appointed women to high-level leadership roles: Jean Quan as mayor of Oakland and Sossena Wood as National Chair of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Quan faced challenges as the first woman and Asian American mayor of Oakland. Her initiatives focused on education but her reputation suffered from political issues. Wood is making progress advancing women and minorities in engineering through NSBE partnerships and funding. Both appointments helped break glass ceilings, but Quan's mayoral term faced difficulties while Wood is seeing promising growth at NSBE.